Tre Arrow, a man we all should be watching

Tre Arrow Bi-Weekly Newsletter (3/23)

www.trearrow.org


author: via email
1) Tre's Words - March 19th, 2005
2) Extradition hearing postponed to June 27th , 2005
3) The Continuing search for bail
4) Statement by Activist Josh Raisler Cohn
5) Visiting Brother Tre Arrow
6) Write to Brother Tre Arrow
7) Donate to Tre's Legal Defense 1) Tre's Words

Hey to everybody.

I hope you have celebrated the Spring Equinox. I can see that Grandmother
Moon is waxing and the Sun is rises higher in the sky every day. I am so
grateful for the small connection to the natural elements while
incarcerated.

My support crew and I have some requests. Firstly, in terms of the
Speaking Tour, we are looking for a vehicle to be loaned or sold to us
that runs on biodiesel, vegetable oil or any diesel vehicle. This way we
can continue the speaking tour, spread awareness about my case, seek a
bondsperson, all the while creating as little impact as possible to our
Earth Mother. We are also asking if anyone would be interested, or knows
someone who would be interested, in participating in a US speaking tour
similar to that which has been happening in Canada. In Canada, we need
people to help organize speaking events, print copies of pamphlets and
fliers and help with postering, and we are seeking folks who would be
interested in being presenters at speaking engagements. For more
information or to help manifest this, please get in touch with my Defense
Committee through tre@riseup.net .

We are also asking folks to make phone calls and write letters to MLAs
(Members of Legislative Assembly). Please encourage others to write
letters, make phone calls or send e-mails to their senators,
congresspersons or other government representatives. Conjure as much
support as you can from as many people as possible! This will increase the
chances of my being acquitted and being set free. Also, we are looking
for celebrity support, such as Bonnie Raitt, Michael Franti, the Indigo
Girls or any others known to support activists or political causes.

Presently, the person who calls himself the President of the United States
has just announced that the protection for the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge has been eradicated. The planned resource exploitation will have
myriad negative impacts on the flora and fauna of the arctic region
including the caribou, and will seriously affect the subsistence existence
of the Gwich'in people. For more information on this issue, please see
links below.

Thorough Research Study and Articles
http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/ANWR/anwrdebateindex.html

How to Take Action
http://www.ienearth.org/alerts.html#arctic022505
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11967
http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/5_18/1.html
http://ga1.org/campaign/Arctic

My extradition hearing has been adjourned until June 27th , 2005. This
will give my Defense more time to provide an adaquite case to stop the
injustice I may face.

To everyone, thank you for your love and support on all of these issues.

Namaste ~ Tre

Recommended reading list:
A kind reminder to please acquire used or library books in order to help
save trees and other precious resources.

Sunfoods Diet Success System - by David Wolfe
Taking Charge of Your Fertility - by Toni Wechler
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse - by Peter Mathiesson
No Logo - by Naomi Klein
Return to Love - by Marianne Williamson

2) Extradition hearing postponed to June 27th , 2005

Tre's extradition hearing, initially scheduled for April 2005, has now
been postponed until June 27th, 2005. These three days of hearings will
decide whether Tre will be extradited to the United States to face a
possible life in prison. If the Judge believes that Tre's human rights
will be violated in the United States, or that he will not receive a fair
trial, the Judge has the right to refuse Tre's extradition. The nature of
the case is highly political, and as a result it would be professional
suicide for a Judge to disapprove Tre's return to the United States.

If Tre is extradited, he will be facing an onslaught by the FBI, the
largest investigations bureau in history. The government is seeking a
lengthy trial, potentially lasting for over a year, causing the complete
drain of legal funds. They are most certainly attempting to disseminate
fear among the public by setting an example of Tre. What is happening to
Tre Arrow could conceivably happen to any peaceful defender of the planet
and its people. By supporting him in this time of need, we show each other
that friends will not be left behind.

"I am innocent of the charges the U.S. government is trying to pin on me.
Just as many activists have experienced, I am being targeted by the U.S.
government and the FBI, not because I am guilty, but because I have chosen
to challenge the status quo."

3) The Continuing search for bail

While Tre awaits the postponed extradition hearings in June, he still has
the chance of being released from prison where he's been incarcerated for
over a year. The Tre Arrow Defense Committee is working hard to connect
with communities all around the B.C. area with hopes of finding an
individual who could help free our imprisoned brother.

Tre's freedom relies on finding an individual who owns property worth at
least $300 000. The judge in Tre's case would be willing to release Tre
on sueruty bail of $300 000 and house arrest, not necessarily on the
property worth $300 000. If you or anyone you know might be able to help,
please contact the Tre Arrow Defense Committee at 902-452-4334 or


Thank-you

4) Letter and Sentencing Statement of Josh Raisler Cohn

An environmentalist and activist named Josh Raisler Cohn was sentenced to
30 days in jail for a banner hang. His statement and letter are posted
below.
Feb. 15, 2005

Hi friends,

Today I was sentenced to serve 30 days in the Green County Prison in
southwestern Pennsylvania for an action I was a part of last summer. My
co-defendants all received sentences of 5 days in jail. On June 23rd six
of us climbed a 700 foot smokestack at the Hatsfield Ferry Power Station,
one of the dirtiest coal fired power plants in the country. We hung a 120
foot tall banner declaring "The Bush Energy Plan Kills, Clean Energy Now."
Within 24 hours of touching the ground we had both state and federal
charges - including a charge amended under the USAPATRIOT ACT-which all
added up to about 90 years in prison. Over the past few months we had
some of the state felonies thrown out, and the federal charges are
dismissed "pending resolution of the state case." We were unable to plea
bargain down to only misdemeanors, and after Allegheny Power, who owns the
plant where we hung the banner approached us, we entered into a deal with
them. We, as individuals, and Greenpeace USA agreed to stay off their
property for five years in exchange for the remaining felony being
dismissed. Our lawyers were confident that we could easily be convicted of
all charges, including the felony, and that due to my record I would serve
a lengthy prison sentence if we went to trial. The decision to agree to
this deal was a painful one, made with a heavy heart on my part, but it is
the decision we all came to in the face of an unjust felony charge and an
overzealous prosecutor. I will likely serve out this imprisonment in the
Green County Prison in Waynesburg PA.

Below is my sentencing statement to the court. Know that you are all an
inspiration to me.

Love and Struggle, Josh

Sentencing Statement
Greene Country Courthouse
Feb 15, 2005
Josh Raisler Cohn

I would like to acknowledge that whatever happens to us here in court
today is slight compared to the impact on citizens of Greene and nearby
counties who live in the shadow of these toxic, poisonous coal power
plants. In 2002, according to energy policy analysts who contracted for
the Bush Administration, the pollution from the Hatsfield Ferry power
plant caused 237 deaths. Along with shortened lives these power plants
also cause asthma, heart disease, cancer and other serious illness. The
impacts do not stop at humans. Every lake, river and stream in the state
of Pennsylvania has a mercury advisory on it, which impacts people here,
as well as everyone downstream. Acid rain contributes to deforestation
from here to the Great Smokey Mountains, and eastward to the Atlantic.
With deforestation comesa loss of habitat for all of the wildlife and
flora that rely on intact ecosystems to survive. But the dirty coal
industry, from mountaintop removal mines to pollution from the stacks is
ripping out the very life support system of the planet. I believe this is
unacceptable. I believe that we all have a right to clean water and clean
air. I believe that we have the right to live in communities free from
toxic pollution. I believe that corporations should not be able to profit
from poisoning us. I believe that people should be allowed to determine
for themselves the conditions of their lives. I believe in political
protest and direct action. For me direct action is an expression of hope
and love, a call for us all to move towards a more just, egalitarian and
sustainable world. Growing up I learned about direct action as a core
component of the history of this country, from a rebellion against unjust
taxation to enslaved Africans escaping bondage in a bid for
self-determination, to Black Americans and White Women putting their
bodies on the line for equal rights and fair treatment. Many things we
take for granted were won through direct action. The right to vote was not
given freely to many people in this country. The 8 hour work day and child
labor laws were not gifts from a benevolent boss. These are things that
were fought for and died for by the people, for the people. Direct action
is an American tradition and it deserves to be treated as such. We all
share some level of responsibility for the problems in society. When we
know that people are dying from environmental pollution, if we don't do
something about it, we are letting it happen. Of course there is a
difference between the people who are deciding not to clean up the
emission from Hatsfield Ferry and people who simply do nothing about it
because they don't see the effects. But by not acting, we allow the
problems to continue.

Complicity is a heavy burden, and in my life that
burden is lightened by acting, breaking a cycle of complicity and silence
by saying "no more." Any sentence that you impose today will do nothing
to change the conditions that got us in "trouble" with laws and government
in the first place. It will not solve the problems that come from
environmental pollution and human illness caused by Hatsfield Ferry and
other plants like it. It will not solve the economic injustice which
allows people with more money move out from the shadows of these plants,
while leaving poorer people no option but to continue living in a place
where the air is darkened by toxic clouds. It will not solve the problem
that companies like Allegheny Power turn a profit while jeopardizing our
health and well being. We live in a country where the profit margin of a
company is prioritized over thehealth of a family or the purity of a
mountain stream. Power companies pay fines for violating environmental
regulations instead of cleaning up their emissions to increase their
profit margins. They are never around to pay though when that next bill
comes in for an inhaler, a round of chemotherapy, or for a coffin.
Economic indicators, like the GDP, go up every time someone is diagnosed
with cancer, every time the top of a mountain is blown off to gut the coal
from deep below. We as citizens participating in a democratic process for
change are criminalized for boldly and dramatically petitioning the
government for a redress of grievances. We hung a banner. That's it. We
are criminalized by the judicial process while the Bush Administration
weakened the Clean Air Act so plants like Hatsfield Ferry can continue to
pollute. One charge we are pleading guilty to is recklessly endangering
another person.

We were meticulous in our preparations and during the
demonstration as well. We took great care to make sure that no one would
be hurt, that there would be no interruption of service, and that banner
could not billow out very far. Between 2000 and 2002 Hatsfield Ferry
knowingly, recklessly released over 500,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, 70,000
tons of nitrogen oxides, and 1,500 pounds of mercury - a dangerous
neurotoxin. Who is reckless, and who is in danger? In the 1300's in
Ireland, there was an interesting way that people worked to resolve
disputes. If someone felt they were wronged they could go to the home of
the person who they were upset with and sit on that person's doorstep and
refuse to eat. They would not eat until the person offered them food, an
act which was some acknowledgment of the problem, and an offer to move
forward. I learned this history from the writings of imprisoned
suffragists, who often declared hunger strikes after being imprisoned for
holding banners in front of the white house during WWI in their efforts to
win white women the right to vote. As long as I am imprisoned, and there
is no prosecution of Allegheny power for the deaths, illness and
ecological destruction it has caused, I will not eat. But I offer to the
court, and to Ms. Fox, what you are welcome to join us in this struggle
for justice,
and a good first step could be to start investigating and prosecuting
Hatsfield Ferry for it's violations of the law.


Josh was released last week and message of support can be sent through:

Christy Pardew
Communications Coordinator School of the Americas Watch
cpardew@soaw.org
www.SOAW.org

5) Visiting Brother Tre Arrow

Visiting Tre at the Pre-Trial Centre is an essential way to help. Personal
visits are a great way to meet Tre and understand why he is
being silenced. It also helps to lift Tre's spirits after having been
locked up for the past eleven months. Please visit www.trearrow.org for
directions and information about booking a visit. Or, email at the address provided above.


6) Write to Brother Tre Arrow

Writing to Tre is an empowering way in which to support him. Let him know
that his good work and brave deeds have not been forgotten. Please
note that letters have been rejected and returned to sender when they did
not meet the North Fraser Pre-trial Centre's letter guidelines. For
a general explanation of what the Centre will and will not accept, please
visit www.trearrow.org . Also, Tre kindly and respectfully asks
that you use scrap, post-consumer, or tree-free paper and envelopes when
writing to him. Thanks!

Tre Arrow
CS# 05850722
North Fraser Pretrial Centre
1451 Kingsway Ave.
Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 1S2
Canada


7) Donate to Tre's Legal Defense

You could hold a bake sale, benefit concert with local bands, have a
multi-family yard sale, try your hands at busking, donate an hour's/day's
wage or your tax refund. Get together with your friends, be creative and
have fun! Please contribute whatever you can, as often as you can. No
contribution is too small. Our deepest thanks to those who have already
contributed.

Canadian
Tre Arrow Legal Defense Fund
P.O. Box 229
Roberts Creek, BC
V0N 2W0
Canada

United States of America
Tre Arrow Legal Defense Fund
520 S.W. Sixth Avenue, #1010
Portland, OR 97204-1595
USA

Please make cheques payable to:
Tre Arrow Legal Defense Fund

THANK YOU!!!